Fire escape



Oct. 30, 1923. I 1,472,446

M; v. WANDERLEY FIRE ESCAPE Filed Jan. 25, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet lQwwewtoz FIRE ESCAPE Filed Jan. 25. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MIU PatentedGet. 30, 1923.

MANOEL V. WANDERLEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FIRE ESCAPE.

Application filed January 23, 1923. Serial No. 614,410.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MANOEL V. WANDER- my, a citizen of Brazil, residingat New York city, borough of Manhattan, in the county of New York andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFire Escapes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to fire escapes and has particular reference tothat type of safety apparatus known as a reel fireescape.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a safety appliance ofthe nature set forth so designed as to be built or attached to the wallon the inside of a building or room, adjacent to any convenient outsidewindow, whence a person may at the time of a fire or other emergencypass quickly and safely to the ground or other available landing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a safety apparatus of thenature stated including a rigid support projecting outward from thebuilding wall and from or through which a flexible connection for theperson is designed to pass andbe s0 guided as to insure that the personwill pass downward safely cleared from the wall or any usual projectionstherefrom such as window sills or the like.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists inthe arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described andclaimed, and while the inventionis not restricted to the extact detailsof construction disclosed or suggested herein, ,still for the-purpose ofillustrating" a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate thesame parts in the several views, and in which- Figure'l is adiagrammatic sideelevation, parts in section, of a preferred embodimentand arrangement of my improvement.

Fig. 2is an open view of the casing showing the main parts of the reeland controllingmechanism in elevation.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line 38 of Fig. 2.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, in the wall W,preferably close to a window 10, is secured or built a support or armlOshown asoftubular construction and having its outer end bentdownward,within which is a guide roller 12, while at the innerend is anotherguide roller 13. This arm 10 is rigid and sufficiently strong for itsintended purpose.

On the inside of the Wall, built within a suitable cabinet or securedagainst one of the walls of the room or building is a casing 14 withinwhich are secured the principal parts of my mechanism but from which isextended a flexible member such as a cable 15 which is guided over therollers 13 and 12 andto which a belt or equivalent body attachment 16 isadapted to be connected as by means of a ring 17 and snap hook 18connected to the end of the cable by means of a chain 19, which iscapable of withstanding effect ofthe elements and always be ready: foruse. The hook 18 is normally held engaged in a fixed position such asindicated by the hook 520 on the outside of the wall within convenientreach of a person at the window. The belt, together with the simpledirections for the use of the ap paratus, will be kept normally hanginginside of the window close to the casing 1 1. At the time of danger theoperator or person to escape through and from the window will simplypass the belt around his body under his arms in practically the formindicated in Fig. 2 and then snap the ring 17 upon the hook 18 and leapfrom the window.

lVithin the casing is built or fastened a suitable strong rigid frameincluding a plate or bar 21 extending horizontally along the centralportion of the back wall of the casing and whence it may be extendedforward to any desired distance around the inside of the casing asindicated at 22 and constituting an inside frame. J ournalcd in theframe is a main shaft 23 upon which is fixed a reel 24 upon which thecable 15 is secured at its inner end and suitably coiled in normalposition and from which the cable may pay out freely as the persondescends from the window, subject to such control as is referred tobelow. The inner end of the shaft 23 is journaled in a member 25 constituting a portion of the frame. This frame lies in a planeapproximately midway between the top and bottom of the casing and mainlyat one side of the center thereof. On the end of the shaft outside theframe is fixed a toothed pinion 26. 4

The shaft 23 is sufiiciently longer than the axial diameter of the reelto accommodate between the reel and the frame member 25 a sleeve 27,loosely ournaled upon the shaft and comprising two integral members, aratchet wheel 28 and a worm gear 29, the ratchet wheel being closeadjacent to the side of the reel.

Co-operating with the teeth of the ratchet wheel are one or more pawls30 pivoted at 31 to the side of the reel and each urged by a leaf spring32 toward the ratchet wheel,

said spring reacting against astud 33. The pawls, when more than one areused, are preferably staggered with relation between their points andthe teeth of the ratchet wheel so that one of the pawls will always besure to engage quickly with one of the teeth when the cable is unwindingfrom the reel, causing the reel to rotate in a counter clockwisedirection as indicated by the arrow at the top of Fig. 2.

As a convenient'lneans for automatically and quickly restoring the cableupon the reel when released from the person who has just used theapparatus, I associate with by'side, and spaced by a suitable guard orspacer 38 I wish it to be understood that any number or size of suchsprings may be used according to the strength or length required in eachindividual installation. In

this connection it is to be noted that the same apparatus is adaptablefor use in connection with buildings of any usual height, the onlyvariation being in the length of the cable 15 and the length or strengthof the springs. Fixed in any convenient manner to the shaft 35 is atoothed gear 39 meshing with the pinion 26. With the riot..- tion of thereel in the direction indicated in Fig.2, the shaft 35 will be rotatedin a clockwise direction, causing the springs 3 to be wound up.'For'additional strength of the springs I show another pair of springs34 secured at their inner ends to a shaft 35 above the aforesaid springsand shafts and whose'outer ends are anchored to an an chorage 36. Theshaft 35 is attached to a spur gear 39 of the same size as and meshingwith the gear 39. The arrangement and operation of the springs 3+1 arethe same as the parts earlier described except that the gear 39 rotatesin the'opposite direction from the gear 39 and consequently the springsare coiled in theoppo-- I site direction, as shown. person has'reaehedthe ground or landing' By the time the place sufficient additional poweris stored in the springs to return promptly the-cable to another personin the manner above described. sufiiclent power always remains in thesprings to keep the cable drawn well into the casing and tubular support10 as shown in Fig. 1. The chain or a ring. connecting the chain to thecable will prevent the chain from being drawn into thesupport if) sothat it will always be in reach of a person at the window either for useor other dis-- position in idle position as described.

The means for controlling the speed of rotation of the reel and hencethe rate of descent of the person comprises a speed governor including astationary clutch member 40 fixed at 41 to a stationary part of themechanism and with 'which cooperates a clutch cone or plate' l2 slidableupon but held from rotation in connection with a shaft 43 upon which isformed or secured a worm 44. 45 indicates a centrifugal weight member,somewhat like a flywheel, but having a. normally oblique position with'respect to the axis of the shaft 43 upon" which the weighted member ispivoted by apivot pin l6 transverse to the axis of the shaft. On theside of the weightedmember adjacent to the clutch sleeve is a cam 47hearing against said sleeve. WVith thespceding up of the shaft l3-theweighted member tends to approach the dotted line position of Fig. 2,causing the cam 47 to crowd the clutch cone toward or into the clutchmember 40, the degree of friction and therefore the rate at which thecone member may turn with respect tothe clutch member be ing in directproportion to the speed of the apparatus. l r

The worm 4A meshes with and is driven from a worm wheel 48 mounted onthe end ofthe shaft 49 upon which or to. which is secured a worm 50having constant mesh with the wormgear 29 above described. It will ofcourse be understood that the number of threads or the pitchof thethreadsof the worms 44: and 50 and the corresponding pitch of the wormgears 48: and 29,will be determined according to speed to be providedfor'in each installation. When the cable pays out from the reel, causingthe reel to rotate to the left as shown, the worm gear 29 will berotated in the same direction, being fixed to the same shaft 23. Thiswill cause rotationof the shaft 49 as indi- V cated by the arrow thereoninfFig'. 2, and thus the weightedmernber 45 will be rotated'atrelatively high "speed and always in the same "direction; When thespringsact'to wind up automatically thecable uponthe reel again, the'pawls' will ride idly over the ratchet teeth 28 while the governormechanism will be idle.

Thus it willbeseen and as borne out by extensive experience with theapparatus, a person may escape quickly and safely from a burningbuilding or other occasion of danger by simply attaching the belt asstated and leaping from the window and when he reaches the landing placethe belt on detachment from his person will be returned to the windowfor subsequent use. Furthermore, it will be noted that no man ualgoverning means are provided or necessary, a feature of tremendousimportance considering that in the majority of cases, the persons toescape from such premises are women, children, or other persons more orless physically incapable, by reason of age or temporary infirmity, tohave either strength o presence of mind suflicient to manipulate manualcontrolling means such as have been proposed heretofore in connectionwith reel fire escapes. This apparatus has proved to be thoroughly safeand efficient as'well as rapid in its action.

I claim:

laIn a fire escape, the combination of a casing having means forsecuring it within a building, a rectangular frame within the casingintermediate of its top and bottom, means to secure rigidly one side ofthe frame against the adjacent side of the casing while the oppositeside of the frame extends approximately along the center of the casing,a shaft journaled in the frame and projecting through and beyond thelatter mentioned side thereof, a power member fixed to the projected endof the shaft, a reel fixed to the shaft within the frame, a sleevejournaled upon the shaft between the reel and said latter mentioned sideof the frame, said sleeve carrying a ratchet wheel and a gear wheel, acable wound upon the reel, a pawl carried by the reel and co-operatingwith the ratchet wheel to cause rotation of the sleeve when the cableunwinds from the reel, automatic means operated by said gear wheel toregulate the speed at which the cable may unwind from the reel, andpower means located in the. space between the frame and the remote sideof the casing for quickly rewinding the cable upon the reel, said powermember serving to store power in the power means while the cable isunwinding.

2. A fire escape as set forth in claim 1 in which a vertical frameextension is located in the space between the rectangular frame and theremote side of the casing and the power means comprises a pair ofparallel shafts journaled in said vertical frame extension, gearsbetween said shafts to cause simultaneous rotation thereof, and aplurality of coil springs within the frame extension and havingtheirends attached to said shafts.

In testimony whereof I I afiix my signature. MANOEL V.

WANDERLEY.

